Tongan Spring

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Right in our own back yard

The Tonga Self-Reliance Team
Our country manager is on the left, and the other 3 are volunteers

Liahona High Graduation
The boy was the student body president and the son of the woodcarver in the photos below.

We commissioned a wood carving, but needed some monkeypod wood.
Our carver found this tree way out in the "Bush"

Cutting a branch down to size

Rough cutting with the chain saw.....

Inside now for drying and sanding.
Sure hope it fits in our suitcase.

'MORE'

We have had 3 new couples arrive in the last week and a half.  This couple is from Clacton on Sea, England.  They will be working as Education Specialists i.e. working with youth (and their parents) from pre kindergarten to 18 years.  They are under the Self-Relaince umbrella so we have had fun getting to know them and orienting them to Tonga and Self-Reliance in general.  The other couples are medical and mentors to middle school teachers (ITEP).

Self-Reliance coordinated with Liahona High School and the Tongan government to do a first ever in the church educational system GED course.  The picture above shows the teachers, administrators, missionaries and the 13 students out of 43 who completed the nine month course.  Some very heart-warming and inspirational stories to be told about some of the 13.  One said:  "Tell BYU we're coming!"  Another sister said:  "I may be too large and too old (38) to climb over the wall  (lack of education), but I can break it down!"  There were significant sacrifices on student and teacher's parts for  this program to get this far.

It was a treat for us to get a visit from my (Dana's) cousin's husband, Willie Moala and 2 of his children.  Willie grew up here in Tonga, but they raised their family in Texas, and came to Tonga for a family reunion.  

The Liahona High School Graduation Ball 

Self-Reliance programs are being introduced in all 19 stakes here.  It begins with a devotional called "My Path", which helps people assess their level of self-relliance and decide which of 3 workshops they should take:  Education for Better Work, My Job Search, and Starting and Growing My Business.

The boy in the center, Clifton Neiufi, worked as a volunteer for us at our office,
and just left for a mission to Sydney, Australia.  

Every Saturday there is a "Fair"  really a flea market, where people sell the goods that they receive in containers from family or friends overseas.  There was a surprise waiting under this family's table.

Elder Tukuafu, the area 70 heard from President Topou that I had been in the laundry businss.  Well, the laundry at the only hospital on the island is in dire need of repairs, replacements and maintenance.  So Elder Tukuafu and I took a look at the operation.  It's true, you do not want to get sick and go to the hospital in Tonga.  We might be able to help some, but most machines are beyond repair.  Their maintenance men all went to New Zealand for a better paying job.
  

Wylie and Evelynn in Tonga

Welcome to Tonga, Wylie and Evelynn!

Traditional Tongan Feast, served in banana tree trunks and complete with roasted pig, octopus, liu, ect.  The traditional dancing and singing followed in a nearby cave near the beachfront.

Hiking the tide pools at low tide, with the protection of the reef,
except for the occasional spouting blowhole.
Note the waves crashing on the reef.

I wonder if we'll find any whales to swim with today?

YUP!

Quick!  Gear up!

Up close and personal with a mother and calf for almost an hour.
One of us kept saying, "This is the Best Day of My Life!"

She's huge!

No visit to Tonga is complete without attending the temple in traditional Tongan attire.

Happy 71st!

Way too short a visit!

Our Tongan Mission President Tupou and his family from Alaska.
The boys are learning to speak Tongan and are attending school here for 3 years.

Tonga Service Center employees and missionaries, people we live by and work with.  Our Self-Reliance Manager for Tonga is next to Dick in the blue dress.  She is an amazing, very competant woman.  The other caucasion missionary couple in the photo are from Inkom, Idaho and serve here as humanitarian/Welfare missionaries. The big boss (temporal affairs manager for Tonga)  didn't make it.   We passed him pulling his boat home from fishing as we drove to work that morning after the photo.

Vava'u Island Group and More

Finally, we made to the beautiful Vava'u group of islands, about an hour's flight north.
The 'Port of Refuge' is a very popular sailing destination in the South Pacific because it is protected from
rough seas in all directions with much to explore.

Our explorations led us to the Idaho rock.

The reason we went to Vava'u was to train 2 stakes on how to
to start their Self-Reliance Initiative.

We had the opportunity to speak with seniors at Seineha LDS High School about
continuing their education and making career choices.

We got to snorkel in Swallow's Cave where there were thousands of fish.

In Vava'u this baby spotted piglet thinks he's a dog.

Meanwhile, back on Tongatapu, the king is back to his "regular" duties, such as reviewing
the annual Kingdom Agricultural Fair.

These Ufi are a favorite root crop, comparable to our Idaho potato.  They dig a hole 6 feet deep to plant these.

A typical booth at the ag fair to show off the local handicrafts--
Mats and tapa cloth, as shown here, are considered more valuable than money.

Octopus is on every Tongan menu.

Sharks are not

Back home in the office, these Tongan BYU Hawaii students came to research employment
opportunities in both government and private sectors.

Let the Coronation Celebrations Begin

Preparations are complete.

Every village and major organization is expected to give gifts to the royal family.  Every presentation we saw involved a very large live pig, a load of ufi (large tuber), tapa cloth, mats and a kava (the national drink comes from this) plant.

The LDS church was among the gift givers.  We were actually able to be part of the "Hala" where the gifts are presented to the king.

So, the king sits inside the palace door (on the floor) during the entire proceedings. We actually were invited to greet the king while there.  You have to take off your shoes while out of his sight and then kneel and crawl into his view, he extends his hand and says "hello" while shaking your hand.  Then, you back off on your hands and knees until out of sight, stand and put on your shoes and never wash you hand again. 

There was a big "International Block Party" down town one night.  They blocked off some streets and a lot of the island showed up for just hanging out, mostly.

One of our favrites was Education Day.  These guys and girls are from the trade schools and they built, wired, furnished and hosted a newly wed couple in 20 minutes.  It was amazing and they pulled it off without a hitch.

Who needs a forklift!

The walls, floors and cabinets were pre-built and carried in.

Better get the bed in there before you add the balcony on.

Note the roof, solar panels and windmill.  They actually lit up the place!  Note the students from the tourism and hospitality school bringing in all the fixin's for the couple's wedding night.

There they are, dressed in traditional Tongan attire, upstairs having a celebratory drink.  Very impressive to pull all that off in 20 minutes.  

The king and queen were there for the entire program.  He inspected all the school display booths that were set up around the track.  

What's a coronation without a parade?  This one was sponsored by Liahona Alumni.  Different countries or cities from around the world built floats for the parade.  No, those are not all roses, all is prepared from locally grown flora.  Oh, and lots of balloons.  They love their balloons.

Liahona Alumni invited the king and Prince Ata to a luncheon .  That's a whole pig there on the table wrapped in cellophane.

Lots of people there.  Maybe 25 tents filled with people and food.  The Alumni put on a very fine show with dancing and music from tradtional to modern.

The king never speaks to us commoners.  He has a talking chief do it for him.

Here's how you get home after the feast.  This is a typical mode of transportation in Tonga.

There was a "Military Tatoo" presented one evening.  His Majesty's Royal Band hosted the USA Marine Corps Band, the New Zeland Military Band and the Austrailian Military Band.  They did some drills while playing music.  Each had a part and then they all performed together.

These "overheads" are all over the island.  Not sure how long they will be up.

The one in the back has pictures of all the new currency that has been minted with you know who's picture on every one of the notes and coins.

We were not invited to the coronation so we had to get this shot off the TV.